The Fresno shooting suspect is a wannabe rapper who reportedly spewed hate on social media and in his songs — in an attempt to spark a race war.
“Demanding justice for the murders of my black kin,” Kori Ali Muhammad says on one track.
“Hollow-points make a white devil body spin.”
Facebook and Twitter accounts purportedly belonging to Muhammad, 39, are filled with racially charged pictures and statements, such as “white devils” and “Yaku,” which is a villainous figure that the Nation of Islam believes created white people.
The LA Times reports that in recent days, Muhammad posted a slew of chilling images and comments, claiming he would lash out against whites.
He even went so far as to praise melanoma skin cancer, according to the newspaper.
“MY KILL RATE INCREASES TREMENDOUSLY ON THE OTHER SIDE ASÈ ALLAH U AKBAR,” Muhammad allegedly wrote Monday on Facebook, in all caps.
“BLACK WARRIORS MOUNT UP AND RIDE OUT ASÈ #LETBLACKPEOPLEGO,” he said.
Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, told the Times that Muhammad’s posts were eerily reminiscent of terms used by the Nation of Islam, which has been labeled a racist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
He said Muhammad’s repeated uses of the phrases “white devils” and “Yakub” prove that he likely thought he was taking part in, or trying to start, a race war.
According to Levin, “Ase” is a term used by the Yoruba people of Nigeria to describe how there is power in one’s spirituality, words and feelings.
The dreadlock-wearing Fresno resident tried making a name for himself online with his hip-hop music, which also contains loads of racial hate and threats.
Using the name “B-God MacSun,” he released an album in February called “True Story Kori.”
In one song, titled “U Gone Need Me,” Muhammad raps about going to prison and “demanding justice for the murders of my black kin.”
“On a mission for the liberation of my people,” he says. “Been at it since ’95, hear me people.”
Throughout the album, Muhammad claims to be an “Asiatic black god” who is trying to cleanse the Earth of white people.
“The delusion is over, destroying this world and starting over, forever we be soldiers,” he sings.
Describing his childhood, Muhammad says he was “abandoned” at a young age and started selling “weed and cocaine” when he was 14.
“Always kept a gun, simply for protection. Had a trigger finger for the haters that be flexing,” he says.
Muhammad has echoed many of his lyrics on social media — and even appeared to take a jab at President Trump last month.
“Skunk trump,” he said in a tweet. “IF OUR DEMAND OF REPARATIONS & SEPARATION NOT ADDRESSED BY FRIDY, THE NATURAL DISASTERS INCREASES 88X ASE.”
Muhammad was arrested Tuesday after he shot three people for no apparent reason. He reportedly yelled out “Allahu Akbar” as he was being taken into custody.
Despite this, officials did not declare the incident a terrorist attack — and have instead labeled it a hate crime.
“We do not believe this is a terrorist-related crime,” Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer explained at a press conference Tuesday evening.
“This is solely based on race,” he said. “He was going to kill as many people as he could today, and that is what he set out to do.”
Muhammad’s victims were described by officials as three white men, ages 34, 37 and 58.
The self-described bigot is also wanted in connection with another shooting death last Thursday, of a 25-year-old Motel 6 security guard.
Before he was taken into custody Tuesday, Muhammad reportedly approached a parked car and pointed his pistol at a 49-year-old woman, her 28-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old girl.
Officials said he didn’t fire, though, and instead just walked away.
Muhammad’s father, Vincent Taylor, told the Times that his son adamantly believed that he was part of an ongoing race war between whites and blacks — and that the “battle was about to take place.”
He said he changed his name from Kori Taylor to Kori Ali Muhammad when he was a teenager, as his anger against white people grew.
His grandmother, Glenestene Taylor, said he hasn’t been the same since.
“He was a different kind of boy,” she explained. “I don’t know why he got on this Muhammad stuff … he tried to tell me about it.”